Die set for shaping vamps



Oct. 26, 1954 A. H. ALTVATER 2,692,400

DIE SET FOR SHAPING VAMPS Original Filed Oct. 27, 1949 lAl/EA/TOt HDOLFH. HLTVOT'ERI HTTOE/VE J Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE DIE SET FOR SHAPING VAMPS' Adolf H. Altvater, Chesterfield, Mo.,assignor to Western Supplies Company, St. Louis, M0., a corporation ofMissouri 2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to the shoe manufacturing art,and more particularly to a novel die set.

This is a divisional application derived from my copending applicationSerial No. 123,951, filed October 27, 1949, which issued as Patent No.2,656,554 on October 2'7, 1953.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a die set which willproperly shape the toe portion of a vamp so that it will be preshapedprior to its incorporation into a shoe. More particularly, it is anobject to provide a die set and method in which the blank vamp materialis drawn around a tip portion of one of the die elements by a strokingaction so as to properly shape the toe portion thereof.

Another object is to provide a die set for preshaping the toe portion ofa vamp in a single operation.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfromthe detailed description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention isshown.

In the preferred construction, a first die member is provided which isrigid and which is shaped like the toe portion of a shaped vamp. Thisfirst die member is convex shaped and includes a tip portion which is atthe lower end of the die when it is positioned on the pressing machine.A second die member is provided which is of resilient material, such asrubber, and which contains a recess of a shape complementary to theshape of the first die member. The die members are adapted to be mountedon a machine for bringing them together to shape a blank vamp, oneof thedie members being mounted on the bed of the machine and the other on aram which reciprocates relative to the bed. The major surfaces of bothof the die members are disposed at an angle to the direction of travelof the ram member so that the tip portion of the rigid first die memberis closest to the second die member, whereby, when a blank vamp isdisposed in the recess of the second die and the die members are forcedtogether, the tip portion of the first die member will contact the blankvamp initially so that the latter will be drawn around the tip portionas the closing movement continues, until ultimately, the entire toeportion will be clamped tightly between the die members.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a die set constructed in accordancewith the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the die set;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the die set, as viewed from theright side of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4-6 are front elevational views of the die set shown mounted on amachine for forcing the die members together and illustrating thesequence of the shaping operation progressively from Figs. 4 to 6, thebed die being shown partially in section to better illustrate theconstruction; and

Fig. 7 is a plan View of a shaped vamp.

Referring to the drawing more particularly by reference numerals, Itindicates generally a set of die members embodying the teachings of thepresent invention which are used preferably with a machine of the typedescribed in my copending application Serial No. 123,951, filed October27, 1949. This machine includes a base (not shown) on which is mounted adie supporting block I2 (Figs. 4-6). The upper surface M of thesupporting block i2 is flat and contains two spaced cylindrical openingsit which are particularly positioned for a purpose to appear.

Also mounted on the machine base is a ram member 20 (Figs. 4-6) which isdisposed above the supporting block I 2 and adapted to be reciprocatedrelative to it. The bottom of the ram member 20 contains a verticallyextending slot 22 and a pair of aligned openings 24 which extendtransversely through the two flange portions formed by the slot 22.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 1-3, the die set I0 includes a beddie 26 and a plunger die 28.

The bed die 26 contains a bottom portion 30 which may be of metal or thelike, and which includes a horizontal flat bottom surface 32. Pins 34depend from this surface 32 and are positioned and shaped to fit intothe openings [8 contained in the supporting block I2. A box-like casing35 of metal or the like is fastened at an angle to the top of the bottomportion 30. As shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 3, the top of thecasing is open, and the upper end wall contains an arcuate groove 38.Disposed in the casing 36 is a resilient cushion type die element 49which is preferably made of rubber so that it does not injure the outersurface of the material being shaped, and which contains a recess 42shaped like the desired shape of the toe portion of a shoe vamp. It willbe noted that the die element 40 is disposed at an angle to the bottomportion 30 so that when mounted on the die supporting block l2 (Figs.4-6), as will more fully appear, it will be disposed at an angle to thedirection of movement of the ram member 20.

The plunger die 28 has an upstanding flat tongue 44 which is of athickness to slidably fit in the slot 22. The tongue 44 contains anopening 46 adjacent its center which may be aligned with the openings 24so that a retaining pin 48 can be inserted through them to hold theplunger die 28 on the ram member 20. Fastened to the bottom of thetongue 44 is a rigid pressure element 50 which includes a tip portion51, and which has a shape complementary to the recess 42 but slightlysmaller so that a shoe vamp can be received between them. It will benoted that the pressure element 50 is also disposed at an angle to thetongue 44 and to the direction of movement of the ram member 20, so thatthe various portions of its bottom surface are substantiallyequi-distant from the complementary portions of the recess 42. Thepressure element 50 preferably contains a heater member 52 which can beconnected to a source of electric power by means of wires 54.

Operation As shown in Figs. 1-6, the bed die 25 is posi tioned on thesupporting block 12 with the pins 34 disposed in the openings 18 so thatthe toe portion of the cushion type die element 49 is on the operatorsleft and the bottom of the recess 42 extends upwardly to the right ofthe operator. The plunger die 28 is mounted on the ram member 20 bymeans of the retaining pin 48 so that the pressure element 56 extendscrosswise of the operator and upwardly from the operators left towardhis right.

As shown in Fig. 4, a blank shoe vamp V, out to the desired size, ispositioned on the die element 40, and hand pressed partially into therecess 42. It will be noted. that in this position the vamp V is spacedupwardly from the toe portion of the recess 42. Positioning the diemembers sidewise enables the operator to conveniently slip the workbetween the dies and to have maximum vision of the work during the cycleof operation, as well as facilitating the shaping of the vamp, as willmore fully appear.

When the plunger die 28 is lowered, the tip portion 5| of the pressureelement 50 will be the first to contact the vamp V, as shown in Fig. 5.As the downward movement of the plunger die 28 continues under pressure,the vamp V will be pressed into the recess 42 with a sort of sliding orwiping action between the vamp V and the surface of the recess 42. Thiswiping action is in directions which are away from the toe portion ofthe vamp V due to the fact that the die members are disposed at an angleto the direction of movement of the ram member 28. This tends to drawthe material about the tip portion 5! of the pressure element 50.

Heat is preferably applied to the plunger die 28, which is of metal,instead of to the bed die 26, because the die element 40, being made ofrubber, is a poor transmitter of heat.

After heat and pressure have been applied for a necessary length of time(Fig. 6), the ram member 20 is withdrawn, and the vamp V will be foundto have been preformed to a shape such as is indicated in Fig. 7

When the present device is used with Vamps which have previously beencrimped on a Kamborian crimping machine, it shapes them by rounding thetop part and smoothes out the wrinkles caused by the shrinking andcrimping operation.

Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided a novel die set andmethod of shaping Vamps which fulfill all of the objects and advantagessought therefor. The toe portion of the blank vamp is shaped in a singleoperation, and the drawing of the material around the tip portion of therigid die member results in a sharper, more permanently shaped vamp.member.

It is to be understood-that the foregoing description and theaccompanying drawing have been given only by way of illustration andexample, and that changes and alterations in the present disclosure,which will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, arecontemplated as within the scope of the present invention, which islimited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

.1. In a the set for use in forming blank shoe Vamps to shape the toeportions thereof, a first die having a concave recess corresponding tothe shape of the toe of the vamp, said recess having lateral and frontsides disposed at substantially right angles to the side correspondingto the top side of the toe portion; a second convex die having a shapecomplementary to said recess; the two dies being adapted to be mountedon a machine having a bed and a ram movable in a line toward and awayfrom the bed; and means on the first die to dispose it at an angle tothe line of movement of the ram such that the lateral and front sides ofthe first die are more nearly parallel to said line of movement thansaid side corresponding to the top side of said toe portion to assurepressure at an angle to all sides of the vamp with the pressure on thefront and lateral sides of the vamp being of a stroking nature whereasthe pressure on the top side is relatively more normal, and means on thesecond die to dispose it at a corresponding angle to that of said firstdie member.

2. In a die set for use in forming blank shoe vamps to shape the toeportions thereof, a first die having a concave recess corresponding tothe shape of the toe of the vamp, said recess having lateral and frontsides disposed at substantially right angles to the side correspondingto the top side of the toe portion, and said die being made of resilientmaterial; a second convex die having a shape complementary to saidrecess; the two dies being adapted to be mounted on a machine having abed and a ram movable in a line toward and away from the bed; and meanson the first die to dispose it at an angle to the line of movement ofthe ram such that the lateral and front sides of the first die are morenearly parallel to said line of movement than said side corresponding tothe top side of said toe portion to assure pressure at an angle to allsides of the vamp with the pressure on the front and lateral sides ofthe vamp being of a stroking nature whereas the pressure on the top sideis relatively more normal, and means on the second die to dispose it onthe ram at a corresponding angle to that of said first die member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,117,629 Bates Nov. 17, 1914 1,195,967 Brock Aug. 29, 19161,440,166 Musebeck Dec. 26, 1922 1,598,423 Clark et al. Aug. 31, 19262,292,930 Daniels Aug. 11, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date4,260 Great Britain of 1913

